The  Cathedral  of  St.  John 
the  Divine 


Avery  Arc  hitectural  and  Fine  Arts  Library 
Gift  of  Seymour  B.  Durst  Old  York  Library 


The  Cathedral  of  St.  John 
the  Divine 

Its  Progress  Piclured 


)  Antoinette  B.  Hervey 


January 
1928 


2 


"When  the  student,  who  has  familiarized  himself  with  the  mediaeval 
cathedrals,  first  enters  the  nave  of  St.  John's,  looks  through  the  two  lines  of 
soaring  columns  that  sweep,  unbroken,  from  floor  to  roof,  and  appreciates  the 
vast  stretch  of  96  feet  from  clerestory  window  to  clerestory  window,  he  will 
realize  that  here  is  something  which,  for  sheer  ?najesty  of  effect,  is  unmatched 
among  the  cathedrals  of  the  world. "—-  J.  Bernard  Walker,  Editor  Emeritus, 
Scientific  American. 

(TWJ 


To  the  Builders  of  the  Cathedral 
of  St.  John  the  Divine: 

This  book  of  drawings  and  photographs 
will  help  you  to  realize  the  magnitude  of  the 
work  that  we  have  in  hand,  and  the  point 
of  progress  that  we  have  reached,  in  the  erec- 
tion of  one  of  the  world's  greatest  cathedrals. 
The  architect's  drawings  show  the  majesty 
and  beauty  of  the  designs  as  at  length  devel- 
oped and  adopted.  The  photographs  show 
the  actual  progress  of  construction,  which 
now  covers  the  entire  ground  plan  of  the  vast 
edifice  with  the  exception  of  the  South 
Transept  and  the  Chapter  House. 

By  studying  these  views  in  the  order  in 
which  they  are  given  you  can  make  a  little 
tour  of  those  parts  of  the  Cathedral  at  pres- 
ent under  construction.  Starting  on  the  north 
side  of  the  building  you  will  proceed  to  the 
West  Front  where  you  will  enter  through 
the  great  Central  Portal.  Passing  along 
through  the  Nave,  you  will  face  about  and 
look  towards  the  Rose  Window  in  the  west 
and  will  pause  to  look  at  the  Bays,  each  with 
its  own  Chapel.  Then,  entering  the  immense 
space  of  the  Crossing,  you  will  stand  before 
the  Choir  which  is  to  be  remodeled  to  har- 


monize with  the  glory  of  the  Nave.  From 
there  you  will  go  to  the  superb  Baptistry,  soon 
to  be  completed,  and  then  on  into  the 
Women's  Transept,  the  foundations  of  which 
are  now  being  laid. 

In  a  little  more  than  three  years  we  have 
seen  work  begin  on  the  Baptistry,  the  Nave, 
the  West  Front  and,  within  the  past  few 
weeks,  on  the  Women's  Transept.  This  prog- 
ress is  encouraging  but  it  is  well  for  us  to 
realize  that  some  of  the  greatest  of  the  old 
cathedrals  were  completed  in  less  time  than 
ours  has  already  taken.  St.  Paul's  in  London 
was  built  in  thirty-five  years,  the  Cathedral  of 
Chartres  in  sixty-six  years,  Amiens  in  sixty- 
eight  years,  and  Santa  Sophia  in  less  than  six 
years.  It  is  fifty-five  years  since  our  Cathedral 
project  was  inaugurated,  and  building  opera- 
tions commenced  thirty-six  years  ago,  in 
1892.  And  encouraging  as  our  progress  has 
been  recently,  there  is  still  much  for  us  to  do. 
The  glorious  Central  Tower  and  the  South 
Transept  are  still  to  come.  The  funds  now 
given  and  pledged  are  sufficient  only  to  com- 
plete the  present  contracts  on  the  Nave  and 


3 


to  make  a  beginning  in  the  erection  of  the 
West  Front  up  to  a  point  thirty-nine  feet 
above  the  floor  level,  and  the  fund  for  the 
Women's  Transept  is  still  incomplete. 

We  are  all  hoping  that  the  building  of  the 
Cathedral  may  now  go  forward  without  in- 
terruption. Let  me  quote  one  whose  words 
upon  any  subject  command  the  attention  and 
respect  of  the  people  of  our  city  and  country, 
Mr.  Elihu  Root.  Speaking  in  Carnegie  Hall, 
at  a  meeting  in  aid  of  our  present  efforts,  Mr. 
Root  said: 

Much  has  been  done,  yet  the  Cathedral  of 
St.  John  the  Divine  is  a  long  time  in  building. 
I  have  seen  the  plans  for  the  complete  struc- 
ture. They  are  most  inspiring.  They  fill  the  soul 
of  an  American  with  a  glowing  feeling  to  think 
that  the  genius  of  an  American  architect  can 
visualize  such  a  structure  for  the  future  of  his 
country. 

Many  of  us  can  never  see  the  completion  of 
the  structure,  but  I,  for  one,  would  like,  if  I 
could,  to  say  some  word  that  may  hasten  on 
the  laying  of  one  stone  in  the  wall. 

The  Cathedral  is  not  like  an  ordinary  church. 
This  is  a  country  of  small  churches,  many  of 
them  very  beautiful,  but  an  ordinary  church  is 
an  Episcopal  Church  or  a  Catholic  Church  or  a 
Presbyterian  Church,  while  a  great  Cathedral, 
with  its  vast  spaces,  its  universal  symbolism,  its 
appeal  to  historic  instinct,  gives  an  unmistak- 
able impression  of  the  faith  of  a  people,  and 
holds  out  its  arms  to  all  the  world.  It  is  Chris- 


nan,  and  it  is  a  perpetual  illustration  of  univer- 
sal Christianity. 

I  do  not  think  the  building  of  this  Cathedral 
is  solely  your  matter;  it  is  primarily  yours,  be- 
cause you  have  undertaken  it,  and  you  are  to 
be  the  trustees  of  that  great  influence  upon  the 
world;  neverthless,  it  is  an  influence  for  the 
nation,  and  upon  the  nation,  for  the  world,  and 
upon  the  world,  and  it  is  a  matter  for  all  of  us, 
not  limited  to  a  single  diocese,  or  to  whatever 
race  or  creed.  The  building  of  the  Cathedral 
of  St.  John  the  Divine  is  a  matter  that  ought 
to  be  of  solicitude  and  pride  for  us  all. 

Build  that  great  and  noble  Cathedral. 

Build  it  not  solely  for  the  Diocese  of  New 
York,  but  build  it  for  all  our  brother  men  living 
in  the  world. 

Build  it  as  a  testimony  that  the  lessons  that 
came  to  us  from  our  God-fearing  fathers  have 
not  been  forgotten. 

Build  it  as  a  contribution  of  America  to  the 
spiritual  life  of  mankind.  And  thereby  help  to 
save  our  own  souls. 

If  we  will  keep  that  noble  appeal  in  mind, 
and  all  do  our  part  according  to  our  means, 
the  building  of  the  Cathedral  will  not  have 
to  stop  for  lack  of  funds,  but  we  shall  carry 
it  forward  to  completion  to  stand  through  the 
ages  as  a  mighty  witness  to  our  faith  in  God, 
to  the  revelation  of  His  love  given  to  us  in 
Jesus  Christ,  and  to  the  place  which  belongs 
to  Him  in  our  life  as  a  people. 


4 


August,  1925.  Steel  scaffolding  hete  used  for  the  first  time  in  any  building. 


December  9,  1927.  A  recent  view  of  the  construction. 


5 


6 


Drawing  of  the  West  Front  upon  which  construction  has  commenced. 


8 


The  Central  Portal. 


The  West  Front  follows  the  best  traditions  of  French 
Gothic.  Its  great  width  of  207  feet  made  possible  the 
adoption  of  the  five  portal  plan,  the  special  glory  of 
Bourges.  The  size  of  the  side  portals  has  been  diversified, 
yielding  a  pleasing  architectural  rhythm. 

The  perfection  and  profusion  of  the  sculptural  orna- 
ment of  their  portals  give  the  French  cathedrals  their 
preeminence.  Statues  of  the  Saints  and  figures  of  our 
Lord  fill  and  crown  the  doorways,  where  the  artistry  and 
religious  symbolism  are  most  easily  studied  and  are  most 
impressive. 

The  modeling  of  the  sculpture  has  been  intrusted  to 
the  two  most  eminent  and  gifted  artists  in  Gothic  now 
to  be  found  in  America,  Mr.  Lee  Laurie,  who  has  the 
incomparable  reredos  of  St.  Thomas'  Church  to  his 
credit,  and  Mr.  John  Angel,  whose  work  in  the  Bap- 
tistry of  the  Cathedral  and  the  facade  of  the  Chapel  of 
Princeton  University  gives  assurance  that  the  whole  will 
display  rare  unity  of  religious  expression  and  artistic 
perfection.  Mr.  Laurie  will  execute  the  figures  of  the 
main,  or  central,  portal  shown  on  this  page. 

The  deep  reveals  will  on  the  north  side  have  statues 
more  than  life  size  of  Moses,  Joseph,  Isaac,  Abraham, 
Noah  and  Melchisedek,  and  on  the  south  side  John  the 
Baptist,  Daniel,  Isaiah,  Jeremiah,  Simeon  and  David. 
Our  Lord  in  majesty  will  be  the  subject  in  the  tym- 
panum and  at  the  apex  of  the  gable  there  will  be  a 
figure  of  St.  John  the  Divine. 

The  north  and  south  portals  will  commemorate  the 
Saints  and  Martyrs  of  the  historical  Church,  with  special 
emphasis  in  the  north  portal  upon  the  heroes  of  An- 
glican Christianity. 


9 


Herald  Tribune—  Steffen 

Looking  west  toward  Broadway  and  the  Hudson  River.   The  transverse  arches  and  diagonal  groins  of  the  vault- 
ing, which  may  be  seen  also  in  the  drawing  of  the  completed  Nave  on  the  opposite  page,  are  here  shown. 


10 


The  Nave,  looking  west.    The  piers  have  the  same  height  as  those  of  the  Nave  of  Milan  Cathedral,  100  feet. 


11 


The  principal  feature  of  each  of 
the  fourteen  bays  in  the  Nave  is  a 
chapel  18  feet  deep,  25  feet  wide 
and  43  feet  high.  Above  the  chapel 
arch  is  the  triforium  gallery,  and 
above  that  the  clerestory  windows 
rise  more  than  100  feet  from  the 
floor,  as  shown  in  this  transverse 
view  of  the  Nave.  The  drawing  on 
the  opposite  page  does  not  indicate 
the  depth  of  the  chapels.  It  is  in- 
tended to  suggest  the  detailed  treat- 
ment of  the  altar,  the  windows  of 
the  chapel,  the  triforium  and  the 
clerestory. 


12 


As  indicated  in  the  drawing  on  page  7,  there  are  four- 
teen bays  in  the  Nave,  seven  on  either  side.  Five  bays 
have  been  given  by  individuals  or  families,  as  memorials. 
Nine  others  are  being  built  by  community  groups  follow- 
ing the  precedent  of  the  trade  guilds  in  the  building  of 
the  old  cathedrals.  Two  of  these  groups  have  reached 
their  objective  of  $150,000,  and  thus  one-half  of  the 
bays  are  now  fully  provided  for. 

The  division  representing  Historical  and  Patriotic  So- 
cieties was  the  first  to  complete  its  fund  through  the  gen- 
erous gift  of  $40,000  from  its  Vice-Chairman,  Mr. 
Ormond  G.  Smith.  One  hundred  and  eleven  societies 
contributed  to  the  fund,  and  eight  foreign  governments 
made  gifts  to  the  Cathedral  through  the  Chairman, 
General  Charles  H.  Sherrill.  The  Bay  of  Historical  and 
Patriotic  Societies  was  officially  assigned  with  an  impres- 
sive service  on  December  11,  1927. 

The  fund  for  the  Sports  Bay,  which  had  reached 
$91,000,  was  next  completed  through  an  underwriting 
pledge  of  $59,000  from  an  anonymous  donor  obtained 
by  General  Sherrill,  who  is  also  Vice-Chairman  of  the 
Sports  Division.  Mr.  Julian  S.  Myrick  is  Chairman  of 
this  group.  The  underwriting  covers  quotas  allocated  to 
various  sports  which  have  not  been  formally  pledged. 
The  Sports  Bay  is  to  be  officially  assigned  on  January 
29,  1928. 

The  fund  for  the  Military  and  Naval  Bay  is  more  than 
two-thirds  completed.  The  Education  Bay  and  the  Press 
Bay  are  more  than  one-third  provided  for.  The  funds 
for  the  Fine  Arts  Bay,  the  Bay  of  the  Legal  Profession, 
the  Bay  of  the  State  of  New  Jersey  and  the  Bay  of  the 
Medical  Profession  are  near  the  one-third  mark. 


13 


©  Antoinette  B.  Hervey 

The  Sanctuary  and  Apse  as  they  now  appear.  It  is  planned  to  remodel  the  Apse  and  Choir,  above  the  level  of  the 
capitals  of  the  columns,  bringing  them  into  conformity  with  the  present  design  of  the  Cathedral. 


M 


©  Antoinette  B.  Hervey 

The  Baptistry,  one  of  the  most  beautiful  in  the  world.    The  font  is  not  yet  in  place 


15 


St.  John  s  Tower 

(Reprinted  from  The  Outlook) 

Seven  centuries  ago,  in  a  gradual  transi- 
tion, Gothic  architecture  developed  out  of 
the  Romanesque.  It  reared  cathedrals  to  tall, 
slender  proportions,  with  no  massive  walls  to 
support  by  their  mere  bulk  the  weight  of  the 
upper  reaches  of  stone.  It  substituted  the  expe- 
dient of  balancing  the  "thrust"  of  arches  bear- 
ing stone  vaulting  against  the  thrust  of  other 
arches  and  against  the  weight  and  thrust  of 
buttresses,  and  of  leading  the  weight  to  the 
ground  through  piers  at  points  of  concen- 
tration. 

Through  the  periods  of  Gothic  building 
during  these  seven  centuries  the  distinguish- 
ing principle  of  construction  has  remained  the 
same,  but  architects  have  repeatedly  sought 
new  ways  of  applying  it.  Yet  so  masterful  was 
the  work  of  the  artisan-architects  of  the  great 
period  when  most  of  the  French  cathedrals 
were  built  that  the  architects  of  the  revival  of 
the  Gothic  have  been  able  to  do  little  more 
than  to  recombine  mediaeval  Gothic  elements 
into  new,  and  often  supremely  beautiful, 
buildings.  Now  Dr.  Ralph  Adams  Cram,  of 
Boston,  the  most  devoted  modern  disciple  of 
the  thirteenth  century,  the  architect  of  the 
Cathedral  of  St.  John  the  Divine,  which  stands 
on  an  eminence  in  New  York,  has  made  a  to- 
tally new  application  of  the  Gothic  principle. 


This  drawing  of  the  interior  of  the  Crossing  shows  the 
intersection  of  two  of  the  secondary  arches  by  means  of 
which  the  Central  Tower,  60  feet  square,  is  hung  over 
the  Crossing,  120  feet  square.  The  design  for  this  tower 
solves  what  had  appeared  to  be  an  insuperable  problem, 
and  is  a  new  development  in  the  history  of  Gothic 
architecture. 


16 


He  has  made  plans  for  the  raising  of  a  great 
tower  over  the  crossing  of  the  nave  and  tran- 
septs of  the  Cathedral  with  no  supporting 
piers  directly  under  it,  but  with  the  weight 
carried  to  outer  piers  by  secondary  arches 
springing  from  above  the  great  main  arches. 
By  thus  applying  Gothic  structural  principles 
a  sixty-foot  square  tower,  perfectly  propor- 
tioned to  the  exterior  of  the  Cathedral,  will 
be  supported  above  a  void  one  hundred  and 
twenty  feet  square  .  .  . 

An  obstacle  to  the  satisfactory  completion 
of  the  Cathedral  has  been  the  difficulty  of  cov- 
ering the  very  large  crossing.  A  square  tower 
rising  directly  from  the  main  piers  in  accord- 
ance with  the  usual  Gothic  treatment  would 
have  been  one  hundred  and  twenty  feet 
square — disproportionately  large  in  compari- 
son with  the  rest  of  the  building.  A  dome  was 
out  of  the  question,  as  not  a  Gothic  element. 
The  solution  previous  to  Dr.  Cram's  recently 
accepted  plan  was  a  twelve-sided  spire  nar- 
rowing down  from  the  size  of  the  crossing; 


but  that  pleased  neither  Dr.  Cram  nor  the 
Trustees  of  the  Cathedral. 

The  diagram  on  this  page  indicates  the 
plan  for  hanging  a  sixty-foot  tower  over  a 
crossing  twice  as  large.  The  letters  A  desig- 
nate the  great  main  piers  of  the  crossing. 
B  shows  the  main  arches  springing  from  the 
main  piers  and  defining  the  one  hundred  foot 
interior  square  of  the  crossing.  C  indicates  the 
secondary  piers  in  line  with  the  main  arcades 
of  the  nave,  the  choir  and  the  transepts. 
D  shows  the  intersecting  arches,  continuing 
the  lines  of  the  main  arcades,  resulting  in  a 
square  of  sixty  feet  upon  which  the  tower  will 
be  supported.  The  white  circles  in  the  dia- 
gram represent  the  bosses  at  the  intersections 
of  the  arches,  not  any  sort  of  supporting 
columns.  Above  the  vaulting  of  this  square 
the  tower  will  rise,  with  its  weight  converted 
into  thrust  by  the  arches  it  will  rest  on,  and 
with  the  weight  and  thrust  received  by  the 
secondary  piers  and  by  the  arcades  in  each 
direction. 


The  dotted  lines  represent  arches. 


17 


Mrs.  Edmund  L.  Baylies,  Chairman  of  the  Women's  Division,  gives  the  signal  for  work  to  begin  on  the  North 

Transept,  December  5,  1927. 


The  Women  s  Transept 


Ground  was  broken  for  the  Women's 
Transept  on  December  5,  1927.  The 
work  of  construction  on  the  Cathedral  now 
covers  the  entire  ground  plan  with  the  excep- 
tion of  the  Chapter  House  and  the  South 
Transept.  The  Women's  Transept  will  be 
similar  to  the  Nave  in  general  design  but 
simpler  in  that  but  one  line  of  piers  will  form 
the  entrance  to  the  six  bavs  whose  clerestory 
windows  will  continue  the  series  which  lines 
the  Nave  and  which  will  eventually  encircle 
the  Cathedral. 

This  undertaking  by  women  is  without 
precedent  in  Christian  history.  Women  have 
had  a  part  in  the  building  of  every  cathedral, 
frequently  a  notable  part,  but  never  before 
have  the  women  of  the  Church  and  of  the 


community  undertaken,  as  women,  to  build  a 
major  portion  of  a  great  world  cathedral. 
Within  the  walls  of  their  Transept  will  be 
many  memorials,  including  the  beautiful  rose 
window  which  is  to  be  given  in  memory  of 
Mrs.  Hamilton  R.  Fairfax,  the  first  Chairman 
of  the  Women's  Division. 

The  objective  of  the  Division  is  $1,000,000 
which  is  now  three-quarters  subscribed.  After 
Mrs.  Fairfax,  Mrs.  Vincent  Astor  carried  the 
work  still  further  forward.  The  present  Chair- 
man is  Mrs.  Edmund  L.  Baylies,  under  whose 
leadership  the  members  of  the  Division  are 
actively  engaged  in  the  work  of  completing 
the  fund  so  that  construction  of  the  Transept 
may  continue  without  interruption. 


18 


The  facade  of  the  North  Transept  to  be  erected  by  the  women  of  New  York. 


19 


Cathedral  of  St.  John  the  Divine 
Dimensions 


Length 


West  Front    50  ft. 

Nave  225  " 

Crossing   100  " 

Choir  170  " 

St.  Saviour's 
Chapel    56  " 


Total  Length  601  " 


Width 

West  Front  207  ft. 

Nave  132  " 

Transepts   315" 

Central  Aisle   56 " 

Side  Aisles  (each)  ...  34  " 

Crossing   100" 

Choir   56  " 

Ambulatory    20 " 


Height 

Western  Towers  272  ft. 

Ridge  of  Nave  Roof.  .  175  " 

Nave  Vaults  124  " 

Choir  Vaults  124  " 

Lantern  Vaults  234  " 

Central  Tower  400  " 

Area   109,082  sq.  ft. 


Comparative  Dimensions  of 
Great  Cathedrals 


Area, 

Height  of 
Towers,  Spires 

Height 

Length 

Width 
Central 

Cathedral 

Sq.  Ft. 

or  Domes, 

Interior, 

Exterior, 

Aisle, 

Feet 

Feet 

Feet 

Feet 

St.  Peter's,  Rome  

227,069 

448 

150 

718 

100 

Seville,  Spain  

128,570 

400 

150 

430 

60 

St.  John  the  Divine,  New  York .  .  . 

109,082 

400 

124 

601 

56 

Duomo.  Milan  

107,000 

355 

153 

500 

60 

^Liverpool,  England  

101,000 

308 

116 

619 

52 

Cologne,  Germany  

91,464 

512 

145 

511 

41 

Amiens,  France  

71,208 

361 

140 

521 

40 

Washington,  D.  C  

70,000 

275 

95 

525 

41 

St.  Sophia,  Constantinople  

70,000 

185 

184 

350 

100 

Chartres,  France  

68,260 

378 

122 

507 

50 

Notre  Dame,  Paris  

64,108 

204 

110 

390 

45 

York,  England  

63,800 

198 

99 

486 

51 

St.  Paul's,  London  

59,700 

363 

89 

460 

40 

St.  Patrick's,  New  York  

57,768 

339 

112 

332 

48 

Winchester,  England  

53,480 

78 

556 

35 

Rheims,  France  

48,985 

270 

124 

483 

40 

Westminster  Abbey,  London.  .  .  . 

46,000 

225 

101 

511 

35 

*The  sixth  edition  of  the  official  handbook  does  not  give  the  area  of  the  Liverpool  Cathedral,  which  was  given  by 
the  London  Times  at  the  time  of  the  consecration  as  101,000  square  feet. 


20 


